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‘Not Until Deion Sanders With Jackson State’| Jerry Rice Coaching HBCU Football? The Coach Prime Effect Is Strong

Posted by | Published on: | Updated on January 17, 2022 CommentsComments (0)

According to HBCU Legends on Sports Illustrated reporter Kyle T. Mosley, GOAT receiver Jerry Rice is hinting that he may want to take a stab at coaching. Maybe even join the growing list of NFL All-Pros and coaches who are taking their talents and experience to Black college football programs.

Rice Interested In Coaching After Seeing Deion Sanders Succeed

Rice and Sanders were once fierce rivals when Jerry played for the Niners and Sanders for the Atlanta Falcons. The two GOATs had some epic battles and eventually joined forces in 1994 to help lead San Francisco to a Super Bowl title.

Now Rice may want to be a head coach. If he did get into coaching, it would be another groundbreaking, watershed moment for all of HBCU football. Imagine Coach Prime versus Rice A Roni on a big stage. Just call it a rebirth of HBCUs’ golden era. Rice says he never really contemplated becoming a head coach until he saw Deion Sanders at Jackson State.

Mosley spoke to Rice and asked the GOAT receiver if he was considering entering the coaching ranks.
“Not until Deion [Sanders], with Jackson State,” said Rice. “Because I felt like I played the game for such a long time. And I was so totally committed. And I just poured everything into my career, that I didn’t have anything left. Because, as a coach, you really don’t have a life. I mean, coaching. It is hard, man, it takes up the majority of your time. But yeah, it takes a total commitment. And you got to be all in. So, it started to cross my mind just a little bit, now,” stated Rice.
Rice is recognized as the best wide receiver to ever play the game of football. He’s arguably the greatest player regardless of position.

The former Mississippi Valley State Delta Devil torched the SWAC and HBCU football from 1981-1984 down on the Delta. He quickly garnered the nickname “World” for his amazing catch radius.

Rice had 301 receptions for 4,693 yards and 50 touchdowns in his college career. His 50 collegiate touchdown receptions record stood until 2006. He set 18 Division I-AA (FCS) records. The offense he played in at MVSU was the original “Run and Shoot” and the Delta Devils averaged 57 points per game in one season during Rice’s time there.

Rice Dominated In The NFL: Best Receiver Ever

Mr. Rice A Roni is the NFL’s all-time leader in receptions (1,549), yards (22,895) and touchdowns (197). Rice embarrassed cornerbacks and safeties on a weekly basis during his illustrious 21-year first ballot Hall of Fame career. He was a part of three Super Bowl winners.

Rice Should Be Able To Attract Talent 

Sanders’ success at the HBCU level has inspired other retired NFL talents to start coaching. We don’t know if Deion Sanders has discussed the possibility with Rice directly yet, but Mosley spoke to Coach Prime a while back and his advice for any new head coach trying to build a program is: “Recruit. Recruit. Recruit.”
“The thing that people must realize is you got to recruit, man,” Sanders told Mosley. “You got to be able to compile a staff to be able to recruit, as well as lead young men.”

There’s not a wide receiver in the country who would turn down an opportunity to develop under the tutelage of Jerry Rice. These Hall of Fame coaches are becoming the great equalizer for HBCU football programs.

Deion Sanders has reiterated that the most important aspect of coaching college football is recruiting. He just landed the nation’s No. 1 overall recruit in Travis Hunter and then added the No. 4 receiver in the country in Kevin Coleman.

READ MORE: Deion Sanders Continues To Add Power 5 Talent Via The Transfer Portal | Coach Prime Knows Recruiting Is Key To Building A Powerhouse – The Shadow League

Sanders continues the momentum by shaking up the college landscape on the heels of leading Jackson State to its first 11-win season in program history.

Prime didn’t rest on his rookie accomplishments. He’s steadily turning up and leaving no food on the plate during this recruiting period. That’s the grind of coaching. It’s never really over.

Sanders landed the 55th-best recruiting class during the 2021 cycle, the best ever for an FCS program. With the Hunter and Coleman commitments, the Tigers are well ahead of where they were last year, so it’s expected they’ll finish with a top 30-35 recruiting class once national signing day happens on Feb. 2.

‘I Want To Apologize To Deion Sanders’| Channing Crowder Eats Words As Jackson State Is Only Non-Power 5 Program With Two Top-50 Recruits

Building A Powerhouse

Coaching success is directly related to the level of talent on the field. Just look at Alabama and Georgia, the two teams who played in the CFP National Championship Game.
Since 2012 they’ve had the top two recruiting classes in CFB. Alabama (nine times) and UGA (two times). It’s no mystery why these programs are always competing for championships.
The way Rice worked at his craft on the football field suggests that he would put the same diligence into handling the responsibilities of a coach. Rice was an ultimate winner who would immediately transform the culture at any university football team lucky enough to have him. It takes dedication and fortitude, but those are two things Rice has always possessed.
The way he ran his routes and how he used his body to make tough contested catches shows the amount of work he put into being the best.
Who’s to say he wouldn’t attack coaching the same way?

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